By Peter Okutu
An Action Alliance, AA, candidate for the Afikpo North/West State Constituency, Ebonyi State House of Assembly, in the 2023 election, John-Prince Osmek, weekend said the country was not yet ripe for part-time legislature as currently canvased in some quarters.
The AA candidate added that Nigerians should rather clamour for competent legislators, who know what leadership and representation entail.
“Anything that is part-time, always have part-time effects”.
Osmek who stated this in Abakaliki added that “It depends on the reason why people are clamouring for a part-time legislature. But as far as I’m concerned, anything that’s part-time will have part-time result. I was thinking people should be clamouring for competent legislators – I mean representatives, who have the interest of the people at heart, people who understand the place of leadership in society, people who are willing to lay down their lives and give dividends of democracy to the people.
“Legislative process talks about lawmaking for the people; and the legislator is someone collectively chosen by his people to represent them in the Chamber, where laws are made in favour of the people in the land.
“When you say part-time, it means people will definitely engage themselves in their various fields of endeavours and come back once or twice a week to make laws for the people.
“This is the reason, when a legislator is not given enough time to rest, articulate and ponder on issues that bother on his people, he won’t make laws that will stand the test of time. I do not believe in part-time legislation, because it won’t help our people. Now, can you equate the efficacy and effectiveness of a part-time pastor with that of full-time pastor? No. They can’t be the same, and this is the same thing with part-time and full-time legislation.”
He equally lamented over the alleged deteriorating state of the Ebonyi University and called on Governor David Umahi to as a matter of urgency, expedite action towards restoring the ‘past’ academic excellence of the institution.
He added, “The question on EBSU is interesting, because I believe that before now I knew the Law Department of the institution was the best across the entire country. If that was the case before and something, near imperfect is happening now, I suggest we should check where we got it all wrong.
“This is because everything rises and falls on leadership. It could as a result of administrative reasons that’s deviling the institution currently, that have caused its erstwhile glory to go down. It could also be that staff welfare is no longer encouraging.
“You know at times, when you don’t take adequate care of those who run your business for you, they will no longer manage it well for you. This automatically kills the ownership mindset and zeal within the work force.
“I am aware that the institution used to do well academically and so, the administration of the school should be checked.
“The leadership should be checked. And staff welfare ought to improve because there must be something that has gone wrong that makes it difficult for the school to rise above its current alleged poor state.”
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